This summer's "it" food

Get these from our Foodtrainers' shop while they last (or before we eat them all).

Whether you’re paleo or gluten free (or neither), many of us are conscious of decreasing our grain intake. We’ve noticed a wave of products and restaurants filling the grain gap with cassava and tapioca. Cassava, a root vegetable, is native to Latin America, Asia and Africa, it is also known as yucca. Today, our Chip List newsletter (be sure you’re signed up to receive our Monthly Morsels) mentioned Siete Chips. These are made from cassava and there's pretty damn delicious.

Then, there’s tapioca. Tapioca is the starch extracted from the cassava root.  I know this is a little confusing, bear with me. For now, just know that cassava and tapioca come from the same place but are different nutritionally.

Cassava is nutritionally like a sweet potato. Cassava has more protein, a ton more vitamin C (cassava a great source), slightly more potassium and about the same amount of fiber. Cassava is higher in calories, if that matters to you (not to me). Cassava is used to make flour and breads (Otto’s cassava flour is a great brand). The concern with cassava processed improperly is that it contains compounds that convert to cyanide, sounds scarier than it is. The truth is many foods contain these compounds, flax is one of them. These compounds are in the leaves and peel of cassava and not the flesh/root. The bulk of the issues with cassava have been with people processing the tuber versus consuming it. Companies, such as Otto's, test their products for these compounds.

And tapioca, I have to admit as a gluten free-er, I love the taste of the tapioca “sandwiches”. The tapioca makes a crepe-like wrap for any type of filling. A couple of places in NYC such as Tapnyc and Oca serve these. We tasted Wrapioca's creations at the fancy food show and, also in NYC, is yubakery, their yubuns are not to be missed. In the sandwiches, tapioca has a slightly crunchy texture, yum. However, the more I researched tapioca, I realized it isn’t a nutritional superstar. The saving grace for tapioca is that it’s a source of resistant starch. These starches feed probiotic bacteria. So, tapioca versus white flour? Tapioca wins. Tapioca versus cassava, that one goes to cassava. 

If you are in NYC, I would check out Tap. The whole place is gluten free, the “sandwiches” are delicious. We liked the vegan and also the one with prosciutto. They are very ingredient conscious, in terms of quality. Plus, they have matcha (odd for a Brazilian place but I'm happy about it). 

Have you tried cassava, yucca or tapioca? Let me know your thoughts.

Bone Broth: Yay or Step Away?

Yesterday I spoke to CBS about bone broth (segment airs Christmas week); Carolyn is going to “break” things down for us today.

Bone broth is the new “hot” beverage (literally) of the season. Truth be told it’s not really new but newly popular thank in part to paleo peeps and GAPS diet. It’s gaining a cult following similar to kombucha. But let’s get to the “bare bones” if you will… bone broth, yay or stay away?

What is bone broth?

As the name implies bone broth is made from chicken, beef or fish bones slowly cooked for 12 or more hours. While the thought of slurping on bone leftovers might make you lose your appetite, it’s not that different from regular old chicken stock. The main difference is that store-bought stock is cooked at high temperature for a short amount of time. Stock is about flavor and not about extracting goodness from the bones.

So, why bones?

Bones are nutritional powerhouses. During cooking, collagen from the bone breaks down into gelatin and this is where the goodness comes from. It’s a super rich source of minerals including calcium and amino acids. Also present are glucosamine and chondroitin names you may recognize from commonly used joint supplements. Whether you are arthritic or just achy from exercise, bone broth can help. Gelatin also benefits our skin, digestive tract and immune system.

How do you make bone broth?

You can heat broth and put in thermos, nuking not suggested

Confession, we don’t (or haven’t yet). You can use leftover bones from roasting a chicken etc. but we’d suggesting asking your butcher for marrow or soup bones (we hear chicken feet are great), you need a couple pounds of bones.  You place bones in a pot or slow cooker, cover with water, add apple cider vinegar which helps extract nutrients from bone and onions, garlic and any flavorings. Be careful to simmer and not boil the broth and then wait and wait. This is at least a 12-hour process (and we thought highlights were time consuming). When you’re done cooking you’ll strain and chill the broth (you can freeze some in jars). They key to this is that the result should resemble brown J-e-l-l-o (vom). Bone broth is not a looker.

Or, you can buy bone broth

Perfect on a cold day

If you’re like us, you can buy bone broth at Brodo (Lauren suggests chili oil and fresh turmeric “toppings”) on the LES or Bone Deep and Harmony. Rumor has it Hudson & Charles in the west village is brothing too as are our friends at Food Matters. There are also online retailers. Sally Fallon has a new broth cookbook that was sold out on Amazon the last I checked (but available at B &N). Pacific foods have also joined the bone broth brigade but we’re not sure how we feel about this yet.

Children of nutritionists must try bone broth (he loved it, stole his mother's)

Any downside or concerns?

The haters will say there’s not a lot of research on bone broth, which is a legit point, but there’s a long history of use that means a lot to us.

You also want to watch the pot or vessel you cook in. Ceramic has some lead concerns so stainless steel is the way to go.  And finally you must use quality bones from organic chickens or grass fed beef. Animals store pesticides and hormones in their fat and you don’t want to drink that.

So, Yay or Step Away?

Lauren was asked if bone broth is a miracle and if bone broth will replace coffee? We don’t believe in food miracles nor do we have plans to “replace coffee”. However, bone broth made from grass-fed beef bones is full of omega-3’s and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which reduces inflammation and may decrease body fat. So, sip your way slim?

We say “yay” bone broth is a delicious and warming ritual for winter. With any healthy food, to feel the max benefits, it needs to be a regular part of your diet. Try a cup of broth a day or use it when making other soups or stews. If it’ll prevent us from getting sick, make us less achy with better skin and digestion? We’re in.

Have you tried bone broth? Do you make it? Are we silly for being squeamish about making it? Or are you phobic too? 

Keep drinking that coffee part 2

I should admit my bias off the bat and say I adore coffee. I also field a lot of coffee questions. Last week a client asked “in an ideal world should I quit coffee?”  No and that world would be far from ideal.  And It’s not just that you shouldn’t quit coffee because it isn’t that bad, coffee has its “perks” (couldn’t resist that pun , didn’t want to). The Bulletproof Coffee concept is also gaining popularity, an LBT reader asked “what's the deal with bulletproof coffee? Gross? Awesome?” I say awesome and wrote about it in the spring.

There are times I look back on an old post and want to update or rewrite certain things but this You Should Drink Coffee and the Best Coffee to Drink post still stands. So the next time someone tries to rain on your coffee parade, send them this. Or, just send them my way. I’m pretty protective when it comes to my “joe”.

Speaking of, what’s your favorite type of coffee (beans)? What do you make your coffee in? Hot coffee or iced coffee? And have you tried Bulletproof coffee?

Something Better than Therapy

I grew up in a nature loving family.  There were walks in nature preserves, gardens (both a regular garden and a shade garden), flowers and photographs of flowers. As amazing as this sounds, it didn’t click with me. I don’t think I’m a naturally visual person. As a child if I went on the walk, my thoughts would wander and I’d be less likely to notice anything around me. And when it came to the garden or plants, while I don’t remember much I do recall the stress of having to take care of them when my parents were not there. It didn’t come naturally.

A lot of this has changed. I still find it easy to get so “in my head” on a run that I tune everything out; however,  I am appreciative of the trees and the flowers even if I don’t really know one from the other with the exception of the obvious ones.

I adapted a post for Fitbit’s blog. While it’s no surprise that time spent outdoors is nice. It’s remarkable what it can do for both our mental and physical health. I also recently discovered the work of Louie Schwartzberg. Do you know of him? He’s a photographer and I guess you can say filmmaker. In a discussion on getting people to care about climate change and the Earth he said something that caught my attention. He said people don’t respond to lists of things they should do. “We protect what we love.”

Here is a glimpse of what Schwartzberg does, I watch this video almost daily and encourage you to check it out.  With Earth Day tomorrow, spend time outside today. See what it does to the trajectory of your day and then tomorrow we’ll be back with some actionable steps but I need you to fall in love first.

How much time do you spend outside each day? Would you consider yourself a nature lover? Were you always? What do you think is the best way to get people to care about the planet?

Did you hear the news about tequila and weight loss?

It wasn’t long ago that Well and Good posted about an ice cream cleanse. I tweeted saying something like “the margarita cleanse can’t be far behind”.  Little did I know that days later, a study would surface out with some intriguing news about a tequila ingredient. “Tequila plant is possible sweetener for diabetics helps reduceblood sugar and weight”. Psychic food tendencies aside, this was fun news. Before we go further, I will confess my bias. I like tequila. I like a tequila shot, I like mixing tequila with green juice and sea buckthorn and please, who doesn’t like a margarita? It’s like the Ellen DeGeneres of drinks, everyone likes them.

When I read that this study was conducted on mice I chuckled at the thought of drunken rodents being weighed and tested (PETA I’m joking). However, I learned that the mice were not given tequila but one of the ingredients in tequila called agavins (different from agave nectar). Mice consuming these agavins ate less, dropped weight and had lower blood glucose levels compared to other sweeteners. It also turns out that these agavins are prebiotics meaning they are good for our GI health.

If you’re starting to get excited (I sure was), hang on. When explaining the findings, the researcher specifically said that the agavins are converted to ethanol during fermentation ergo they’re not present in tequila. Even if it turns out agavins have the same beneficial effects on humans, we will not ingest them via our tequila intake. Shoot.

While this feels like a bad almost-April Fools joke some tequila facts.

• Skip the gold- one of the reason many have had bad experiences is that gold tequila is made using caramel coloring (or that in college you had 20 shots) pick silver or blanco and ask what they’re using when you order. Quality is important even with booze.
• And tequila expires (or deteriorates) once you open a bottle you have one to two months to finish it. I’m thinking there’s some ancient tequila lurking in may of your homes. Please do not finish the bottle of tequila just because I told you this.
• I don’t want to leave you totally sad to start the week. While I detest the word “moderate” when it comes to drinking that’s about 4 drinks a week. And it seems that amount has some beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity (alcohol lowers your blood sugar).

As for the agavins, they're another “sweet” option we can follow up on once they hit the shelves which I’m guessing will happen by tomorrow based on this research.
Do you like tequila? Did you hear about this study? What was your reaction?